AMES, Iowa -- "Fountain of the Four Seasons," the Christian
Petersen sculpture in front of Iowa State University's Memorial
Union, will be removed for at least a year for repairs and
conservation work.

Linda Merk-Gould, an art conservator from Westport, Conn., will
remove the sculpture's four Native American women and the terra
cotta ring they surround May 20-22. Merk-Gould will take the
sculptures to her Connecticut studios, where she will remove
built-up salt, minerals and bacterial growth, and repair cracks
and other damage.

Merk-Gould also will do repair work on the fountain's pool. A new
plumbing system for the fountain will be installed later this
year.

The fountain will not be in operation while work is done on the
pool. It will be turned back on this summer, and then turned off
again in the fall when the plumbing work begins.

Merk-Gould has done conservation work on Petersen works at the
Dairy Industry Building and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
She recently worked on the Statue of Freedom at the U.S. Capital
in Washington, D.C.

The total cost of the project is approximately $200,000, most of
which will come from private contributions. The ISU Class of 1946
is funding conservation of one of the Native American women
statues.

Petersen, artist-in-residence at Iowa State from 1934-1955,
created the "Fountain of the Four Seasons" in 1941. A previous
fountain was a vertical water spout with a reflecting pool.
Student pranksters were known for perching toilet seats on the
fountainhead at night. Former ISU President Charles Friley asked
Petersen to create "something beautiful" that students would not
want to make a joke out of.